A wide variety of products have been available for many years for performing spot vacuuming or automotive vacuuming which are powered by batteries. Frequently this is accomplished by providing a cord which can be plugged into the cigarette lighter outlet of an automobile. Most such units are simply not capable of adequate performance; furthermore, units designed to be completely portable by means of integral batteries are even more deficient in cleaning capability and usage time. It has now been found that adequate cleaning performance can be obtained from a battery-operated unit, and even from a low voltage battery of limited current capacity.